Renewable energy lights the way

Author: Melanie Gosling

South Africa’s renewable energy procurement programme had to date commissioned sufficient wind and solar power to match the capacity of a coal-fired power station, Trade and Industry Minister Rob Davies said on Tuesday.

Speaking at a press function with his Canadian counterpart Ed Fast, Davies said 3 916MW of renewable energy was in the pipeline, being built by private companies selected by the Department of Energy in a competitive bidding programme.

Davies said this represented a “saving” equal in size to a coal-fired power station.

In the next five years, the renewable energy programme would expand to 6 700MW.

The capacity of the Medupi coal power plant under construction is 4 800MW.